Transience of a Water Mirror
by Kourin Lucrece
Summary: A Chichiri-centered fic talking about different parts of his past. Warning: Dark Themes and Character Death! (spoilers also) REWRITE
1. What Have I Done?

Transience of a Water Mirror  
  
By Kourin Lucrece  
  
Disclaimer: Take any guess what I'm gonna say... If you can't guess then you should not use this site...  
  
WARNING: THIS STORY CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR CHICHIRI'S PAST AND IN LATER CHAPTERS FOR THE OAV. ALSO, CHARACTER DEATH.  
  
Author's Note: For those of you who read the original, there will be very few surprises, but I did change the story greatly, not only by adding scenes but by changing the ones that were already there. ^.^ To tell the truth, there's very little of the original remaining, lol. For those of you who didn't read it the first time around, which I am sure is most of you, this is a kinda sad fic, so yeah... Enjoy!! ((Thanks to all the original reviewers, I love you!!))  
  
Chapter One: What Have I Done?  
  
Houjun walked cheerfully along the dirt road, whistling an old song that he had heard recently. He could just imagine the look on Kouran's face when he gave her the present he had. It had taken him almost 4 months of doing extra work for neighbors to raise enough money for the ivory hair clip Kouran had loved at the market place. His father had chuckled about Houjun's persistence, saying that the girl had already said yes to marrying him, he need not woo her further. But to Houjun, it was worth it.  
  
As he neared Kouran's family home, Houjun wondered yet again how he was so lucky to have a girl like Kouran love a poor farmer like himself. Even Hikou was nearer her social status, but such things had never mattered to the 3 friends. They were too close to care. After all, they all loved each other to some degree.  
  
Houjun was, as always cheerfully received at the door by Kouran's mother. "Ohayo, Houjun-chan!"  
  
"Ohayo gozaimasu, Hanako-san," he replied with a bow. "Is Kouran-san at home?"  
  
"Hai, she and Hikou are out on the back porch."  
  
"Arigato!" He said, as he hurried to find his two friends. Perhaps the 3 of them could enjoy the day together. His father had told Houjun and his brother a few days before with the start of the rain season that working the fields would be pointless for a few weeks.  
  
But what the young man saw then stopped him dead in his tracks. Kouran... Hikou... The ivory clip fell from his hand as Houjun watched his true love and best friend sharing a long passionate kiss. As his gift clattered to the floor, the two pulled apart and turned to face him. Kouran's eyes filled with tears.  
  
"Houjun..."  
  
But before she could finish, he had turned and run, trying to get the image from his mind. Hikou and Kouran? It couldn't be true! He and Kouran were going to be married... and... And Hikou was his best friend!  
  
Houjun stopped running as his lungs began to protest the activity and stood, gasping for breath. A light rain had begun to fall again, plastering his bangs to his face. He still didn't understand. How could they?  
  
But as the rain began falling more steadily, the farmer's son headed reluctantly back to his own home. Perhaps it had all been a misunderstanding. He had seen it wrong, or had taken it wrong, or something. His mind reeled as he tried to deny what he had just witnessed.  
  
"Oniiiiiiiii-chan!" His younger sister called in greeting, as he walked into their house. She ran over to give him a hug and Houjun smiled slightly at her exuberance. She was the sweetest kid.  
  
"Ne, Onii-chan..." She looked concerned. "Daijobu ka?"  
  
"Hai," he assured her quietly, "Daijobu."  
  
"Good," the small girl said cheerfully. "Cuz Kouran-san is here to see you!" Having fulfilled her duty as messenger, Ume darted away to play somewhere else.  
  
Hesitating slightly before entering the other room, Houjun pushed open the door. He was surprised to find his fiancée there on her knees, sobbing.  
  
"Kouran?"  
  
She hid her face further in her sleeves. "Houjun, gomen ne... I cannot stay with you!" she cried. "Gomen ne... gomen ne!"  
  
His eyes widened. "You love Hikou then?" he demanded. The only response was her sobbing and Houjun felt his heart break in that moment. He turned and walked swiftly away, knowing he couldn't cry in front of her and if he stayed he surely would cry. But his sadness quickly turned to anger at their betrayal. Damn it, he'd trusted them both!  
  
When he spotted Hikou standing next to the swollen river, Houjun's rage grew further. He loved them both; they'd been friends forever! You were supposed to be able to trust your friends. But Hikou had stolen Kouran's love from him. His best friend... His best friend... HIS BEST FRIEND!!  
  
Hikou turned and saw Houjun, and the younger man could no longer contain his hurt. He lunged forward, catching Hikou by the wrists. "Give her back, you bastard!"  
  
"Houjun!"  
  
But Houjun didn't give his friend time to explain. "How could you? I trusted you. Give her back!"  
  
Hikou took another step backwards and was horrified to feel the riverbank crumbling beneath his foot. But his fall was cut short as Houjun once again caught his hand; this time in an attempt to save him.  
  
"Hang on, Hikou," Houjun whispered in terror as he tried to pull his friend out of the rushing water. His anger had disappeared as quickly as it had come, leaving him stuck in a nightmarish situation. He couldn't lose Hikou!  
  
"Don't let go," his friend pleaded.  
  
"I won't," came the terse reply, "I promise."  
  
He never even saw it coming. He was so intent upon rescuing his friend that Houjun never saw the log coming. All of a sudden a searing pain ripped through his and Houjun jerked a hand instinctively to his bleeding eye. When Houjun regained control of his reeling senses, he realized that he had let go of Hikou. "No..."  
  
His working eye frantically scanned the dark churning waters for a sign of his friend in the flood. "No... Hikou!!" The rain continued to fall as Houjun's world faded into hazy red pain.  
  
When he awoke, Houjun struggled to his feet, blood leaking anew from his ruined eye. His home, the town... They were gone... It couldn't be true!!  
  
Houjun sprinted as fast as he could through the remaining standing water, and stood numb staring at the wreckage of what had once been home. There was little left save fallen houses and the dead. Those he loved were all gone to the same horrible death as Hikou and he had killed them as surely as if he had stabbed them. They were all gone.  
  
He turned away, but the sight was one permanently etched into his mind. Houjun collapsed to his knees in anguish. 'Dear Suzaku, what have I done?' And tears mixed with the blood of his ruined eye.  
  
~*~  
  
Well, isn't that a cheerful chapter? ^^;;; It doesn't get much better in that respect... Gomen! So, what did you think? Poor Chichiri... Please review and keep an eye out for the rewrites of the other three chapters!! 


	2. Atonement Through Magic

Transience of a Water Mirror  
  
By Kourin Lucrece  
  
Disclaimer: Nope, not mine.  
  
Author's Note: I know I haven't updated in a long time, but please forgive me! I get side-tracked far too easily.  
  
Chapter 2: Atonement Through Magic  
  
Houjun had no idea how long he had been stumbling through the forest. He did not even truly remember getting there in the first place. The vision of all those he loved, dead... Hikou, falling in the water... All of it on his head... It whirled through his brain and beyond that, nothing matter. Houjun could have been walking for a week for all he knew or cared. The ground beneath his feet was rising into a hill that proved to be too much for his weakened state. As Houjun dropped to the ground, his pain-hazy mind had only one conscious thought: 'Oh Suzaku, just let me die...'  
  
When Houjun awoke, he knew that he must be hallucinating. The hill where he had fallen was now a mountain, atop of which was perched a large temple or palace... He could not really tell as his vision was suffering badly. Waterfalls cascaded from numerous cliffs, their pale water cheerfully reflecting the morning sunlight. Oddly colored orbs floated in various places, but even stranger was the little girl floating in the air not three feet away. At least it looked three feet... Houjun couldn't tell.  
  
"Ne!" the little girl trilled to someone over her shoulder in a far too perky tone. "He's awake!"  
  
A small... woman... floated into view as well and Houjun gulped as he saw her face. Dear Suzaku, what was she? Despite that, Houjun pulled himself to his knees and bowed as well as he could. "Sempai."  
  
The little girl snickered. "Sempai? That Tai-Yi Jun... Not 'sempai'!" She leaned in conspiratorially. "She's the ugliest in..." She didn't finish, as the old woman smacked the girl with a cane, sending her flying off.  
  
"Stupid Nyan-nyans..." the woman muttered, turning to see that Houjun still knelt on the ground. "Get up," she snapped. The boy tried, but was not successful and with a sigh, Tai-Yi Jun set him floating up towards her home.  
  
*  
  
Houjun was sitting in the room that he had been given, thinking. A bandage stretched over the ruin of his eye and he ignored it. All of the things that Tai-Yi Jun had told him were making his head spin. Houjun was one of the Suzaku no Shichi Seishi? It didn't make sense. He didn't deserve it, murderer that he was. Tai-Yi Jun had said she was going to teach him to use his powers, and today had been their first lesson. Houjun thought of the pounding headache that had come as he tried to clear his mind. He was unable to do event that simple task. However, his teacher had not been angry.  
  
"Rest, and think things over," she had said. "You need to accept that what happened was not your fault and that you have a very important task ahead of you."  
  
Some things were easier said than done. He bitterly missed his friends, and his family. How could he move past their deaths? Houjun had died with them, back in Shoryuu. He was merely a faceless killer, who had destroyed the very people he loved.  
  
Placing his head on the window sill, Houjun sobbed.  
  
A while later, Houjun collapsed onto his bed, thoroughly tired from the outpouring of emotions. His mind, however, was clearer than it had been. He might not be able to accept what he had done, but perhaps he could atone for it. His eye had already been taken, the scar would forever remind him, but his decision went beyond that. He would make up for what he had done through his 'powers', as Tai-Yi Jun called them. Perhaps he would redeem himself through looking out for the future miko.  
  
No, he would never forget and part of Houjun hoped he would not be forgiven, so that he might rot in hell as he deserved, but he would try to make it up to them. He was no longer Houjun. He was Chichiri.  
  
*  
  
Poor Houjun... 


	3. Mask of Flesh

Transience of a Water Mirror  
  
By Kourin Lucrece  
  
Disclaimer: not mine  
  
Author's Note: Wow, it's been a while. Enjoy!  
  
Chapter 3: Mask of Flesh to Hide the Soul  
  
Chichiri wiped a bit of sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. The sun was high in the sky, and the day was warm even for summer. Even his kasa was not providing cool shade, merely causing the young monk's head to feel the heat more keenly. He had left Tai-Yi Jun's mountain only a day or so ago, his training over.  
  
In the distance, Chichiri noted a small village and smiled slightly. Perhaps he could stop and get some water as he traveled. It would be a nice respite from the sun's hot glare. With that thought, he continued walking.  
  
It took longer than he would have expected to reach the outskirts of the small town, and there were no people in sight. He assumed that most of them were either working or in some cool place to spend the hottest time of day. He walked further down the road, wondering if there was a well, or a market.  
  
A small boy sat in the middle of the road, crying frantically for his mother. His knee was scraped up and there seemed to be no one else around. Concerned, Chichiri kneeled down by the child and asked kindly, "Are you lost, chi-chan?" [small one]  
  
Looking up at Chichiri's face, the boy let out a shriek. "Oni!" [ogre/monster]  
  
Chichiri was surprise, and the boy took that moment to kick the monk and run to the other side of the street.  
  
"You there!" a gruff voice called out. "What are you doing to that boy?"  
  
"I... nothing," Chichiri faltered. "I merely asked if he was lost... I..."  
  
When he turned to face the man, and his companions, the townspeople that had gathered to see what all the commotion was about let loose a murmur of disgust and fear. What sort of person was it that received a scar on their face like that? Surely he was a thief or worse.  
  
The first rock that struck Chichiri's shoulder caused him to stumble back as much from shock as from pain. What was going on? He had only tried to help a child! Another, slightly larger, stone hit him in the abdomen.  
  
"Go on!" they were shouting at him, "Leave! We don't want you here! Let the boy be!"  
  
More rocks of varying sizes and sand were thrown at him, bruising the monk and blinding his remaining eye. He turned to flee from the onslaught, stumbling as a rock slammed into the small of his back.  
  
When he reached the safety of the woods outside the town, Chichiri let himself drop to the cool moist dirt of the forest floor. Tears worked their way from his eye, and sobs shook his battered form. Was this to be his punishment for his sins? To forever be shunned and beaten, even by those he tried to help?  
  
He had not allowed Tai-Yi Jun to heal his scar, seeing it as a mark of what he had done, his penance. It was a promise to those he had wronged that he would do his utmost to better the lives of others from now on. His wish to be able to fulfill that wish was transformed into a shapeless, wordless spell that conveyed all of his feelings. He poured all of the hurt he felt into that spell, and when the glow from the magic faded, it solidified into a mask cradled in the monk's hands.  
  
He fell into an exhausted slumber, the mask still clutched in one hand. He would hide his face in the same way he would hide his own emotions.  
  
-  
  
Poor Chichiri. He really never gets a break, does he? 


End file.
